Key Work Health and Safety Statistics, Australia

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1 Key Work Health and Safety Statistics, Australia 2014

2 Disclaimer The information provided in this document can only assist you in the most general way. This document does not replace any statutory requirements under any relevant state and territory legislation. Safe Work Australia is not liable for any loss resulting from any action taken or reliance made by you on the information or material contained on this document. Before relying on the material, users should carefully make their own assessment as to its accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance for their purposes, and should obtain any appropriate professional advice relevant to their particular circumstances. The views in this report should not be taken to represent the views of Safe Work Australia unless otherwise expressly stated. Creative Commons With the exception of the Safe Work Australia logo and front cover image, this report is licensed by Safe Work Australia under a Creative Commons 3.0 Australia Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit In essence, you are free to copy, communicate and adapt the work, as long as you attribute the work to Safe Work Australia and abide by the other licensing terms. The report should be attributed as Key Work Health and Safety Statistics, Australia, Enquiries regarding the licence and use of the report are welcome at: Copyright Officer Safe Work Australia GPO Box 641 Canberra ACT ISBN [PDF] ISBN [DOCX] ISBN [PRINT]

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5 Key work health and safety statistics In , there were workers compensation claims for serious 1 work-related injuries or illnesses. This equates to an incidence rate of 13.1 serious claims per 1000 employees. Preliminary data for show there were serious workers compensation claims, which equates to 12.2 serious claims per 1000 employees. While the final number of accepted claims for the year is likely to be around 2% higher, an improvement from is still expected. Per hour worked, male employees had a 25% higher rate of claims for serious injury or disease than female employees. Incidence rates of serious workers compensation claims increase with employee age. The highest occupation incidence rates were recorded by Labourers & related workers, over double the rate for all occupations. The highest industry incidence rates were recorded by the Transport & storage, Agriculture, forestry & fishing and Manufacturing industries. A typical serious workers compensation claim involves four weeks absence from work. One-quarter of serious claims required 12 or more weeks off work. One in five serious claims involved an injury to the back. The Australian Bureau of Statistics Work Related Injury Survey showed 58 out of every 1000 workers experienced an injury or illness in the workplace in However, half of these incidents involved less than one day or shift absent from work. In , 228 workers died due to an injury incurred at work. This equates to 1.99 deaths per workers. Work related injury and illness were estimated to cost $60.6 billion in the financial year. This represented 4.8% of GDP. 1 Serious claims involve a death, a permanent incapacity or a temporary incapacity requiring an absence from work of one working week or more Key Work Health and Safety Statistics

6 National OHS Strategy As a step towards achieving its national vision of Australian workplaces free from death, injury and disease, the National OHS Strategy set the following targets: Injury and musculoskeletal claims Target: 40% reduction in the incidence of work-related injury by 30 June Result: There was a 28% decrease in the injury incidence rate up to Figure 1 shows that the injury target was not met. Fatalities Target: 20% reduction in the incidence of compensated work-related fatalities by 30 June Result: A 42% decrease was recorded up to which is more than twice the desired result. Figure 2 shows that the fatality target was achieved. International fatalities Target: Australia to have the lowest work-related traumatic injury fatality rate in the world by Result: While the gap between Australia and the better performing countries has reduced, Figure 3 shows that Australia did not meet the target. Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy The Australian Strategy builds on the National OHS Strategy and promotes a vision of healthy, safe and productive working lives. The Australian Strategy includes national targets to: reduce the number of worker fatalities by at least 20% reduce the incidence rate of claims resulting in one or more weeks off work by at least 30%, and reduce the incidence rate of claims for musculoskeletal disorders resulting in one or more weeks off work by at least 30%. Reporting against these new targets will commence in A guide to the measurement of the targets is available on the Safe Work Australia website Safe Work Australia

10 Nature of injury or disease The most common work-related injuries that were compensated were sprains and strains (42.4% of all serious claims). In , injury or poisoning accounted for 72% of serious workers compensation claims with disease claims accounting for the balance. However, the number of disease claims is likely to be an underestimate due to the difficulties associated with linking disease to workplace exposure(s). Figure 6 Serious claims: percentage by nature of injury/disease, p Sprain & strains Musculoskeletal disorders Fractures Open wound Mental disorders Contusion with intact skin surface Deafness Hernia Dislocation Burns Other injuries Other disease Injury Disease % 10% 20% 30% 40% Percentage of serious claims 6... Safe Work Australia

11 How the injury or disease occurred Body stressing, Falls, trips & slips of a person and Being hit by a moving object were the mechanisms of work-related injury or disease responsible for 75% of serious workers compensation claims in These mechanisms, together with Hitting objects with a part of the body, were identified as priority mechanisms in the National OHS Strategy There has been little change in the proportion of claims due to these mechanisms since the National OHS Strategy began. Figure 7 Serious claims: percentage by mechanism of injury/disease, p Body stressing Falls, trips & slips of a person Being hit by moving objects Hitting objects with a part of the body Mental stress Sound & pressure Vehicle incident Heat, radiation & electricity Chemicals & other substances Other mechanisms of injury % 10% 20% 30% 40% Percentage of serious claims Key Work Health and Safety Statistics

12 Work-related fatalities Preliminary workers compensation data for show there were 199 accepted claims for work-related injury and disease fatalities, down from the 216 recorded for Three-quarters (147) of these fatalities were due to injury with the remainder due to disease. Workers compensation data do not include fatalities where there are no dependants to lodge a claim or where the worker was selfemployed. Therefore, workers compensation data underestimate the total number of work-related fatalities. The Work-related Traumatic Injury Fatalities report combines information on fatalities from a number of sources but excludes deaths due to disease. The data show there were 228 worker fatalities. The 228 worker deaths in is an increase on the previous two years but still substantially lower than the series high of 295 deaths recorded in Table 1 shows that the Agriculture, forestry & fishing industry had the highest number of fatalities in (60 deaths) and the highest fatality rate (17.93 deaths per workers). This fatality rate is nine times the all industries rate (1.99). The Transport, postal and warehousing industry recorded the second highest number of fatalities (51 deaths) and the second highest fatality rate (9.02 deaths per workers). Table 2 shows that 92 workers died in a Vehicle incident or rollover in and a further 30 died due to Being hit by falling objects. The total number of work-related fatalities due to disease has been conservatively estimated to be at least 2000 deaths per year 2. Recent Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data show that there were 606 deaths attributed to mesothelioma in It has been estimated that this number will not peak until after Kerr et al Best Estimate of the Magnitude of Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Substances, Worksafe Australia Developmental Grant Final Report, April Clements et al Actuarial projections for mesothelioma: an epidemiological perspective. Presented to the Actuaries of Australia XI th Accident Compensation Seminar Safe Work Australia

14 Mesothelioma Data on the number of new cases of mesothelioma are collected nationally by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. These data show that: The number of new cases of mesothelioma diagnosed increased from 156 in 1982 to a peak of 675 in In 2009, 666 cases were diagnosed. Based on a number of projections, the incidence of mesothelioma is not expected to peak until after The age standardised rate of new cases of mesothelioma has increased from 1.1 new cases per population in 1983 to 2.8 in The majority (80 90%) of mesothelioma cases involve males. Number of new cases Figure 8 The number of new cases of mesothelioma by sex and year of diagnosis, 1982 to Total Males Females 0 Year of diagnosis Safe Work Australia

15 The Australian Mesothelioma Registry The Australian Mesothelioma Registry collects information on all mesothelioma cases diagnosed since 1 July This information includes notifications of new cases of the disease from Australian cancer registries and estimates of the past asbestos exposure of consenting patients. The registry released its second report in 2013 primarily covering mesothelioma cases diagnosed in 2012 but also including some revised figures for 2011 and exposure data since July Key findings of the second report include: By 30 June 2013, the Registry had been notified of 619 new cases of mesothelioma in This equates to an incidence rate of 2.4 diagnoses per population. Males accounted for 83% of notified cases. 80% of people diagnosed with mesothelioma were aged 65 years or over. The report also found that by April 2013, 290 (47%) of the people diagnosed in 2012 had died. Mesothelioma was the cause of death in 96% of the cases. The Registry has been able to assess the asbestos exposure of 229 patients. These assessments have shown that: The jobs with highest asbestos exposure likelihood were construction workers, electricians, plumbers, boiler makers and metal and mechanical tradespersons such as fitters and tuners. The most common circumstance of non-occupational exposure was related to home renovation activities. Other sources of exposure included living in a house made mainly of fibro and living in the same home as someone with an asbestos-exposed job who came home dusty. Key Work Health and Safety Statistics

16 Occupational disease indicators Safe Work Australia identified eight priority occupational disease groups to receive attention under the National OHS Strategy. These disease groups have been chosen because they have a high attribution to the work environment. Workers compensation data are complemented, where possible, by information from other sources 4 to better identify occupational disease trends. Table 3 presents the trends in the incidence of occupational diseases between and Decreasing trends were observed for five of the eight priority disease groups. Noiseinduced hearing loss; Respiratory diseases and Occupational cancers did not display a clear overall trend of increase or decrease. Table 3 Occupational disease indicators: trend from to Trend over time è è è Occupational Disease Musculoskeletal disorders Mental disorders Noise-induced hearing loss Infectious and parasitic diseases Respiratory diseases Contact dermatitis Cardiovascular diseases Occupational cancers 4 National Hospital Morbidity Database, National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, National Cancer Statistics Clearing House Safe Work Australia

17 Jurisdictional comparison In the lowest incidence rate of serious workers compensation claims was recorded by the Australian Government 5 (Figure 9) with Queensland and Tasmania recording the highest rates. The preliminary data for show a similar pattern. Figure 9 Incidence of serious claims: jurisdiction by year 18 Serious claims per 1000 employees Aus Tas Qld NSW ACT WA SA NT Vic Gov p Aus Avg Long term claims are those involving 12 or more weeks of compensation. The lowest rate of long term claims in was recorded by the Australian Government. The highest rate was recorded by the Australian Capital Territory (Figure 10). Preliminary data for should be used with caution as they are likely to increase as shorter-term claims accrue additional time lost. Figure 10 Incidence of long term claims: jurisdiction by year Long term claims per 1000 employees Aus ACT Tas WA Qld SA Vic NSW NT Gov p Aus Avg Australian Government includes all organisations covered by the Comcare workers compensation scheme. Key Work Health and Safety Statistics

18 Premium rates The standardised average premium rate 6 in Australia has decreased 16%, from 1.79% of payroll in to 1.51% in Standardised premium rates across the jurisdictions range from 0.99% of payroll in the Australian Government 7 to 2.51% in South Australia. Figure 11 Standardised premium rates by jurisdiction, Percentage of payroll SA ACT Private NT NSW Tas Qld Vic WA Aus Gov Aus av Enforcement In , workplace interventions were undertaken by work health and safety authorities around Australia. Authorities issued notices made up of 612 infringement notices, 4613 prohibition notices and improvement notices. Legal proceedings against businesses were finalised in 362 cases and $22.3 million was handed out in fines by the courts. There were 1076 work health and safety inspectors actively inspecting workplaces during Standardisation takes into account differences in remuneration, employer excess and journey claim coverage. Figures include self-insurers. 7 Premium rates for the Australian Government do not include the ACT government Safe Work Australia

19 Cost of work-related injury and disease Work related injury and illness were estimated to cost $60.6 billion in the financial year. This represented 4.8% of GDP. Injuries accounted for 51% of the cost with disease the balance. Nearly two-thirds of the cost (74%) was borne by the affected worker with 21% borne by the community and 5% by the employer. Figure 12 shows that in , 69% of the cost came from partial incapacity incidents where the worker returned to work on reduced duties or a lower income. Around 13% of injuries and illnesses resulted in partial incapacity in A further 16% of costs came from full incapacity where the worker was unable to return to work in any capacity. Figure 12 Cost of work-related injury and disease by severity, Economic cost ($b) Short absence Long absence Partial incapacity Full incapacity Fatality Notes: The cost estimate includes direct costs (payment of wages and medical costs) and indirect costs (lost productivity, loss of future earnings and social welfare payments). Under the methodology adopted, workers compensation premiums are not considered as a cost to the employer but treated as a burden to the community as compensation payments are redistributed to injured and ill workers. Key Work Health and Safety Statistics

20 Sources All workers compensation statistics regarding claims have been sourced from the National Dataset for Compensation-based Statistics (NDS). Safe Work Australia produces an annual comprehensive statistical bulletin, the Compendium of Workers Compensation Statistics, Australia, in which many of the national statistics in this booklet can be found. Additional information on fatalities can be found in Work-related Traumatic Injury Fatalities. Jurisdictional data, workers compensation scheme data and more information on progress towards the National OHS Strategy targets is available in the Comparative Performance Monitoring (CPM) report. Information on occupational disease can be found in the publication, Occupational Disease Indicators. Information on Mesothelioma can be found in the publications Mesothelioma in Australia and Asbestos-related disease indicators. Information on the cost of occupational injury and disease can be found in the report The Cost of Work-related Injury and Illness for Australian Employers, Workers and the Community. All of these reports can be found on the Safe Work Australia website at Information on the Australian Mesothelioma Registry can be found at Safe Work Australia GPO Box 641 Canberra ACT 2601 Phone:

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